Schilling first in majors to win 15 games

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Curt Schilling is quick to acknowledge that
he wouldn't be 15-3 without a lot of help.

Schilling

"This was about the bullpen and the bench,'' the right-hander said Friday night after Arizona's 3-2 victory over Los Angeles moved the Diamondbacks within a half-game of the NL West-leading Dodgers.

Schilling held the Dodgers to two runs, one earned, in
seven-plus innings. Mike Myers, Mike Fetters and closer Byung-Hyun
Kim shut them out the rest of the way.

Greg Colbrunn, in just his 26th start of the season, hit a
two-run homer in the fifth after Junior Spivey tied it 1-1 with a
solo shot earlier in the inning.

Spivey's homer was the Diamondbacks' first in 77 consecutive
innings over nine games.

"Those home run things is pretty neat. You hit it into the seats and they give you points,'' Arizona manager Bob Brenly joked.

Brenly also credited the bullpen, but had plenty of praise for Schilling, who allowed five hits, struck out five and gave up just his 14th and 15th walks of the year.

"It was typical Schilling,'' the Diamondbacks' manager said. "He was spotting his fastball where it looks so tempting that you're going to swing at it -- and hit it right at somebody.''

Schilling, whose 15 wins are tops in the majors, got his ninth consecutive victory over Los Angeles and ran his road record this season to 9-0 in 10 starts.

"You have to earn everything against Schilling and you know that going in,'' Los Angeles manager Jim Tracy said. "So when the opportunity to strike presents itself, which in our case came in the eighth inning, you've to be ready to seize it.''

With Arizona down 1-0, Spivey hit his 10th homer of the season
off Odalis Perez (10-5). After Craig Counsell singled, Colbrunn
added the two-run shot, his fourth.

Los Angeles made it 3-2 in the eighth when Dave Roberts led off
with a triple and Paul Lo Duca followed with a broken-bat single up
the middle.

Myers replaced Schilling and got Green on the pop to shortstop
for the first out. Fetters took over and got Eric Karros to ground into a double play. Kim pitched a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 27 opportunities.

It was Schilling's second win over Los Angeles this season. He
went seven innings in a 14-3 victory over the Dodgers and Perez on
May 29 in Arizona.

The right-hander, who has won 12 straight decisions on the road dating back to last August, has a 12-5 career record against Los Angeles.

In the matchup of All-Star teammates, Perez gave up three runs on nine hits and struck out seven in six innings as the Dodgers lost three in a row for the first time since San Francisco swept them to open the season.

"Odalis did a fine job for us,'' Tracy said. "We just came up a run short.''

Game notes

Arizona C Damian Miller left the game in the eighth inning
because of back spasms and is day to day. ... RHP Rick Helling, who
sprained his right ankle in a July 2 game against the Dodgers, was
scratched from Saturday's start. LHP Brian Anderson was shifted
from Sunday to Saturday, with RHP Miguel Batista starting Sunday's series finale against the Dodgers. ... Los Angeles RHP Darren Dreifort had an "excellent'' bullpen session Friday, manager Jim Tracy said, adding that the next step for Dreifort is pitching in
simulated games as he recovers from last July's elbow surgery. ...
Dodgers RHP Kevin Brown, who underwent surgery for a herniated disk
in his back a month ago, has begun playing catch but is not
expected to throw off a mound for at least a couple more weeks. He
hopes to pitch again this season.